Vesting cliffs, and why unlocks move price
The single most predictable source of new sell pressure in crypto is a date written into a contract years earlier.
At a glance
- Almost every vesting schedule opens with a cliff — a period during which nothing unlocks at all.
- After the cliff, tokens typically release on a straight-line schedule over one to four more years.
- Unlock dates are usually published in advance — check the calendar before treating a price move as news.
A vesting schedule releases tokens to early investors and team members gradually rather than all at once, and almost every schedule starts with a cliff — a period, often a year, during which nothing unlocks at all. The point of the cliff is to stop early holders from selling into a market that has not yet had time to develop real demand.
After the cliff, tokens typically unlock on a straight-line schedule, monthly or quarterly, for one to four more years. Unlike a public company's insider lockup, these schedules are usually published at launch, so the dates and quantities are known well in advance.
A large unlock does not have to be sold to move the price. The market prices in the expectation of new supply ahead of the date, which is why tokens often drift down into an unlock and stabilise afterward once the actual selling — often smaller than feared — is absorbed.
The practical habit is to check a project's unlock calendar before treating any price move as news. A move that lines up with a scheduled unlock is a supply event, not a change in the story.
Key terms
- Cliff
- The initial period of a vesting schedule during which no tokens release at all.
- Straight-line vesting
- Equal-sized releases at regular intervals following the cliff, until fully vested.
- Unlock calendar
- A project's published schedule of future token releases, usually available before launch.
Frequently asked
Does every project use a twelve-month cliff?
No — cliffs commonly range from six months to two years, and some projects use no cliff at all, releasing tokens from day one.
Can a team change the vesting schedule after launch?
Only if the contract was written to allow it, which is itself a red flag — a schedule that can be altered unilaterally after the fact offers little real protection.
Do team tokens vest the same way as investor tokens?
Not always — team allocations sometimes vest over a longer period than investor rounds, though the two schedules are frequently similar.